Issues And Debates - Paper 3

Question 1

What does idiographic mean?

Answer 1

Focuses on the individual which means it hard to generalise from person to person. It also used qualitative data.

Question 2

Why cant general laws be made with the idiographic approach?

Answer 2

Because of chance, free will and the uniqueness of the individual.

Question 3

Which research methods does the idiographic approach use? (5)

Answer 3

Case studies, unstructured interviews, self reports, autobiographies and personal documents.

Question 4

What are 3 examples of research using the idiographic approach?

Answer 4

1. CBT for schizophrenia and OCD
2. Freud’s little hans study
3. Humanistic psychologists.

Question 5

How does CBT for schizophrenia and OCD use the idiographic approach?

Answer 5

Because therapists agree treatment plans with each of their clients as each person experiences the world and their conditions differently.

Question 6

How did Freud’s little Hans study use the idiographic approach?

Answer 6

Sigmund Freud used case studies of his patients as a way to better understand human behaviour such as the case of little Hans. This case was made up of 150 pages of verbatim quotes from little Hans’ father and descriptions of events in his life as well as Freud’s own interpretations of these events. Freud did produce generalisations from his case studies but these are still idiographic as they were drawn from unique individuals.

Question 7

How do humanistic psychologists use the idiographic approach?

Answer 7

Humanistic psychologists are concerned with the person as a whole and seeing the world from the perspectives of these people. What matters is the person’s subjective experience and not an interpretation that someone else may observe of their behaviour.

Question 8

What is the evaluation for the strength of the idiographic approach?

Answer 8

One strength of the idiographic approach is that it focuses on the individual.
Humanistic and qualitative psychologists in the latter half of the last century felt that too much emphasis was being placed on measurements and that psychologists had forgotten what it was to be human. Allport was the first person to use the terms nomothetic and idiographic and argued in his 1961 case study of Jenny, that an idiographic perspective could tell us more than personality tests which can only provide statistical information.
This suggests that the focus on individuals can give us a more complete understanding of human behaviour.

Question 9

What is the limitation evaluation for the idiographic approach?

Answer 9

However, a limitation of the idiographic approach is that it is extremely time consuming.
Both approaches are based on large amounts of data but one is in terms of collecting a lot of data from only one person and the other is in terms of gathering it from large numbers of people. Collecting vast volumes of data from groups of people does take time but, relatively speaking, once a questionnaire or psychological test has been made, data can be generated and processed very quickly.
This means that the idiographic approach is less efficient when it comes to data collection and may also be less economical.

Question 10

What is the nomothetic approach?

Answer 10

It makes generalisations between people as they are seen as part of a group. Laws of human behaviour can be established from large representative samples which favour quantitative data.

Question 11

What are nomothetic psychologists mainly concerned with?

Answer 11

What we all share with each other and the similarities between people

Question 12

What research methods does the nomothetic approach use? (4)

Answer 12

1. Scientific methods
2. Lab studies with large randomised samples
3. Observations.
4. Group averages are statistically analysed to produce general predictions.

Question 13

What are the 4 examples of nomothetic research?

Answer 13

1. Drug therapies for schizophrenia and OCD
2. Physiological reactions to stress and explanations for aggression
3. Behaviourist psychologists produce general laws like operant and classical conditioning.
4. Hans Eysenck 1947 psychometric personality approach.

Question 14

Why are drug therapies examples of nomothetic research?

Answer 14

Because we supposedly all react to drugs in the same way

Question 15

Why are behaviourist psychologists an example of nomothetic research?

Answer 15

They produce general laws of behaviour like operant and classical conditioning. Although the research may not have used thousands of human participants, they do seek one set of rules for all animals, human and non human.

Question 16

Why is Hans Eysenck an example of nomothetic research?

Answer 16

His psychometric personality approach can be compared to Allport’s personality research. Psychometric means to measure psychological characteristic such as personality and IQ. He tested large groups of people and the distribution of their scores informed us of what was normal and abnormal. In the case of personality, the EPQ was used to collect large amounts of data that used factor analysis to produce the 8 personality types.

Question 17

What is the evaluation of nomothetic and idiographic research being combined by Holt 1967?

Answer 17

Holt 1967 argued that the idiographic/nomothetic distinction is a false separation.
Holt claimed that there is no such thing as a unique individual and that what the idiographic approach actually does is produce general principles. So the idiographic approach actually ends up becoming nomothetic. Millon and DVIs (1996) suggest that research should begin with a nomothetic approach and once laws have been established, a more idiographic understanding can be focused on. In fact, future drug therapies will probably entail just that: a personalised recipe based on genetic and environmental insights. Finally, uniqueness can be produced using the nomothetic approach. For example, Eysenck argued that each individual is unique in that they have a unique combination of extraversion, introversion and neuroticism.
Therefore, uniqueness can be explained through nomothetic laws which suggests that both approaches should be used together.

Question 18

What is free will?

Answer 18

Free will is the power of each individual to make choices about their behaviour

Question 19

What is determinism?

Answer 19

Determinism means that there are reasons that determine someone’s behaviour

Question 20

What is hard determinism?

Answer 20

Hard determinism says that all behaviours can be predicted and there is no such thing as free will. The two are incompatible.

Question 21

What is soft determinism?

Answer 21

Soft determinism is a version of determinism that allows for some free will and believes in internal and external causes.

Question 22

What are the 4 types of determinism?

Answer 22

1. Biological
2. Environmental
3. Psychic
4. Scientific

Question 23

What is biological determinism?

Answer 23

Any form of biological influence in the body such as genes, brain physiology and biochemistry.

Question 24

What are 2 examples of biological determinism?

Answer 24

1. The role of dopamine in OCD
2. The fact that the SRY gene in males can promote aggression and violence.

Question 25

What is environmental determinism?

Answer 25

The idea that our behaviour is determined by environmental influences.

Question 26

What are 2 examples of environmental determinism?

Answer 26

1. The two stage theory of phobia acquisition
2. The treatment of phobias through unconditioning by systematic desensitisation or flooding

Question 27

What is psychic determinism?

Answer 27

Considers the role of the unconscious on conscious thought and how this determines behaviour.

Question 28

What is the example for psychic determinism?

Answer 28

Freud’s research into the ID and Super ego. The ID is our underlying desires and the Super ego is our morals which determine our behaviour.

Question 29

What is scientific determinism?

Answer 29

It places emphasis on causal explanations. Scientific research is based on the idea that events have a cause so an IV is manipulated to see the effect on the DV.

Question 30

What is the example for scientific determinism?

Answer 30

Harlow’s research into attachment. The IV (cloth or wire mother) was manipulated to see the effect on the DV (the attachment formed).

Question 31

What is the weakness of solely purporting a genetically or environmentally deterministic stance evaluation for determinism?

Answer 31

A weakness of solely purporting a genetically or environmentally deterministic stance is that neither can be the singular determining factor for a behaviour.
For example, studies comparing monozygotic twins, individuals with an identical genetic makeup, found that they shared an 80% similarity in intelligence and a 40% concordance rate for depression. In other words, if one twin has a high IQ, there is only an 80% chance that the other twin will be the same. Therefore, genes don’t entirely determine behaviour but equally, neither does the environment. This means that an interactionist approach rather than deterministic may better represent reality.

Question 32

What is the murderers attempting to claim their behaviour is determined evaluation for determinism?

Answer 32

There have been attempts, in criminal cases in the US, for murderers to claim that their behaviour was determined by inherited aggressive tendencies and they therefore shouldn’t be sentenced to the death penalty.
Stephen Mobley, who killed a pizza shop manager in 1981, claimed that this happened as he was ‘born to kill’, as evidenced by a family history of violence. However, this argument was rejected and Mobley was sentenced to death. Determinism is also an issue in the treatment of mental disorders. If we take the view that mental disorders such as schizophrenia and depression are determined by an individual’s biology, then it follows that treatments should target their genes and neurotransmitters. However, this may block the consideration of other beneficial treatments such as CBT.
Therefore, in practice, a deterministic position may be undesirable as it could allow individuals to make ‘excuses’ for their behaviour and it may restrict options of treatment for mental health.

Question 33

What are the 2 types of free will and what are they?

Answer 33

1. The humanistic approach = the belief that we are born as a clean slate and that humans are innately good.
2. Moral responsibility= the law states that humans have free will and are therefore morally responsible for their decisions.

Question 34

What is an example of the humanistic approach for free will?

Answer 34

1. Maslow and Roger’s claim that humans have free will and that self determination is a necessary part of human behaviour as without it, self actualisation is not possible.

Question 35

What is an example for moral responsibility as a type of free will?

Answer 35

1. Peter Van Inwagen states that if we don’t have free will then there is no such thing as moral responsibility and the law recognises that children and the mentally ill can not be morally responsible for their own actions.

Question 36

Which approaches believe in hard determinism?

Answer 36

1. Biological
2. Behaviourism
3. Environmental
4. Psychic
5. Scientific

Question 37

Which approaches believe in soft determinism?

Answer 37

1. Humanistic

Question 38

What is the evaluation that free will received a significant blow from Benjamin libet’s research?

Answer 38

The position of free will received a significant blow from research conducted by Benjamin Libet et al (1983).
They recorded activity in the motor areas of the brain before people had the conscious awareness of the decision to move their finger. In other words, the decision to move the finger (a conscious state) was simply a ‘read out’ of a predetermined action. Follow up research confirmed these findings. For example, Chung Siong Soon (2008) found that our actions are initiated by unconscious mental processes long before we become aware of our intention to act. However, similar studies found different results. For example, Trevena and Miller (2009) showed that brain activity was simply a ‘readiness to act’ rather than an intention to move.
Therefore, this questions the validity of free will and further research is needed before we conclude that it is true. Additionally, it seems that neuroscience still supports free will.

Question 39

What is gender bias?

Answer 39

The differential treatment and/or representation of men and women based on stereotypes.

Question 40

What does the term ‘bias’ refer to?

Answer 40

It is used to suggest that a person or society’s views are distorted in some way.

Question 41

What are the 4 terms associated with gender/culture bias?

Answer 41

1. Androcentrism
2. Beta bias
3. Alpha bias
4. Universality

Question 42

What is androcentrism in gender bias?
And an example:

Answer 42

Research centred and focuses on men often at the expense of women. Men are seen as the norm and women differ from this.
E.G 1. Freud’s research only used men 2. Kohlbergs moral reasoning theory tested men but extended the results to women.

Question 43

What is beta bias in gender bias?
And an example:

Answer 43

Minimises differences and exaggerates similarities.
E.G Biopsychology research into the fight or flight response failed to consider ‘tend and befriend’ seen in women. This is because research is usually conducted with male animals because the variations in hormone levels in females would make the research more difficult. The fight or flight response was considered ‘universal’ until Shelley Taylor et al (200) challenged this and provided evidence of the female response which is adaptive as it ensure the survival of their offspring.

Question 44

What is alpha bias in gender bias?
And what is an example:

Answer 44

The exaggeration of differences. This may mean that one gender is devalued. It results in more stereotypical gender roles.
E.G Freud’s research showed that he believed women were inferior to men as femininity was just failed masculinity as they had ‘penis envy’ and were unable to undergo the same Oedipus complex as boys.

Question 45

What is universality in gender bias?
And an example:

Answer 45

The attempt to generalise one humans behaviour to all humans no matter the gender.
E.G Zimbardo’s SPE experiment as it was generalised to the whole of America and Germany.

Question 46

What were the steps of Kohlbergs moral reasoning theory? (3)

Answer 46

1. The stage theory of moral development was based on interviews with 10-16 year old boys.
2. The same male sample was re interviewed every 3-4 years for 20 years.
3. His classification system was based on morality of justice. However, some researchers like Gilligan found that women tend to be more focused on relationships when making moral decisions and men on justice. Therefore, women are often seen to be at a lower level of moral reasoning.

Question 47

What is the evaluation for gender bias using feminist psychology to rectify the differences?

Answer 47

There is gender bias in psychology but a more feminist perspective is helping to rectify the differences and create a more balanced perspective.
Feminist psychology aims to redress the imbalance in research and theory psychology. Although biological sex differences are accepted, society is seen to have a much larger impact on gender stereotypes. One way to address this is to accept that men and women differ but not to view one way of thinking as ‘better’, just different. For example, Gilligan found that men base their moral codes on justice and women base theirs on feelings.
By adopting a more feminist view, we can begin to address the imbalance in research.

Question 48

What is ethnocentrism?

Answer 48

It occurs when a researcher assumes that their culturally specific practices or ideas are ‘natural’ or ‘right’. When other cultures are observed to differ from the researcher’s own, they may be regarded in a negative light e.g ‘underdeveloped’, ‘primitive’ and ‘degenerate’.

Question 49

When does ethnocentrism become racism?

Answer 49

When other cultures are degraded and their traditions are made to be irrelevant.

Question 50

What is culture bias?

Answer 50

This is the tendency to judge all people against the standards of your own culture. This can distort or bias your views.

Question 51

What is alpha bias in culture?
And an example:

Answer 51

Alpha bias exaggerates differences and can occur when a theory assumes cultural groups are profoundly different.
E.G Ainsworth’s strange situation found that children in Germany were mostly anxious avoidant which is seen as ‘bad’ in her definition and secure attachments are desirable but only in the UK and US.

Question 52

What is beta bias in culture?
And an example:

Answer 52

Minimising differences
E.G Milgram. His results could only apply to one culture: middle class white men, but he attempted to generalise to everyone.

Question 53

What is universality?
And an example:

Answer 53

The belief that all humans are alike so what goes for one person usually goes for everyone.
E.G Biological approach of dopamine’s association with OCD and depression.

Question 54

What is cultural relativism?
And an example:

Answer 54

The belief that it is essential to consider cultural context when examining a behaviour within a culture.
E.G cultural differences in attraction and criteria for choosing a partner

Question 55

How can ethnocentrism be countered?

Answer 55

By encouraging indigenous psychologies which are the development of different groups of theories for different cultures.

Question 56

What is the evaluation point about countering ethnocentrism?

Answer 56

One way to counter ethnocentrism is to encourage indigenous psychologies which are the development of different groups of theories within different cultures.
For example, Afrocentrism is a movement whose central proposition is that all black people have their roots in Africa so psychological theories considering such people must be African centered and express African values. Afrocentrism disagrees with the view that European values are a universally appropriate description of human behaviour. It suggests that at worst, European culture and values devalue non-European people and at best, are irrelevant to the life and culture of people of African descent.
This has led to the reduction of beta bias and development of theories relevant to the life and culture of African people

Question 57

What is the consequences of cultural bias with the US army IQ test evaluation?

Answer 57

Culturally biased research can have significant real world effect by, for example validating and amplifying damaging stereotypes.
The US army used an IQ test before WW1 which was culturally biased towards the dominant white majority. Unsurprisingly, the test found that African Americans were at the bottom of the IQ scale and had the lowest mental age. The test had negative effects on the attitudes of Americans towards this group of people.
Therefore, the consequence was enduring stereotypes concerning a certain ethnic group and their IQ (Gould 1981).